Columns of Ordeal

Abstract

No self-respecting Cairene dragoman omits to point out to his clients among the curiosities of the mosque of Amr at Fostat two columns near the South door, which are endowed, according to popular superstition, with the miraculous power of discriminating between true Moslems and Unbelievers. Placed at such a short distance apart (some ten inches) that the passage between them can with difficulty be negotiated by a man of average build, the columns none the less allow a true Moslem, however stout, to pass between them, while an Unbeliever, however slim, finds passage impossible. In other words, the space is supernaturally widened if necessary to accommodate the former and contracted to exclude the latter class.The columns actually used for this purpose at Cairo do not seem long to have been associated with the superstition. Visitors to the mosque in the sixties do not mention it, though they refer to the companion marvel of the column miraculously transported from Mecca. The superstition itself, however, is of great antiquity and relatively well documented. The purpose of the rite, a spiritual test, distinguishes it sharply from the many similar ‘passing through’ rituals universally current and generally considered ‘lucky’ acts practised with a view to the healing of disease, etc. Its symbolism, as we shall see, suggests a Christian origin.